Armenian speaker alleges Russian bid to topple government through June 7 elections
Armenian parliament speaker Alen Simonian has accused Russia of trying to use next month’s parliamentary elections to unseat Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian, alleging a “political operation” to seize power. Simonian, a leading member of Pashinian’s Civil Contract party, first made the allegation in a weekend interview with state television.
He said Russia was attempting to “use our democracy against us,” claiming that pro-Russian forces planned to flood online platforms with paid content.
He also declared, “We will not allow the Republic of Armenia to be turned into a ‘gubernia’ (a Russian province), we will not be governed like Belarus.” Reaffirming his stance on Wednesday, he told reporters that “the example of Belarus’s governance is unacceptable to my country,” and repeated that “an attempt to seize power is underway.” Moscow has not publicly reacted to the accusations.
Belarus did, summoning Armenia’s charge d’affaires in Minsk on Tuesday to deliver a protest note over what it called Yerevan’s “latest unfriendly actions.” A Belarusian Foreign Ministry spokesman dismissed Simonian’s remarks as “pre-election populism.” Simonian’s statements came around two European summits in Yerevan that the Armenian opposition portrays as a pre-election show of support for Pashinian and his party.
Opposition leaders argue that Pashinian is dragging Armenia into the West’s geopolitical standoff with Russia, which they say exacerbates the country’s security challenges. Meeting Pashinian in Moscow on April 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin implied that Armenia would pay a heavy economic price for what he described as the government’s continued drift toward the European Union.
He also warned Yerevan against barring what he called pro-Russian opposition groups from running in the June 7 parliamentary elections. The three main opposition election contenders are led by Russian-Armenian billionaire Samvel Karapetian, former President Robert Kocharian and businessman Gagik Tsarukian.
Pashinian’s allies have branded them as Russian agents. Pashinian has sought to downplay tensions following his latest talks with Putin. Simonian’s remarks, however, could reignite the dispute as the campaign enters its final stretch.